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Carrie Fisher: Icon, celebrity and human

Reading Hannah Jane Parkinson’s heartfelt tribute to Carrie Fisher in the Guardian meant I finally get celebrity advocacy of mental health. Sometimes I’ve felt celebrities have used mental health issues to excuse any kind of behaviour, whether they really have a diagnosable illness or not (I’m sure many do), while the rest of us have to do our time in the real world of unforgiving judgement.

Hannah portrayed a very different picture. A woman who’s life was constantly on display, and who determined her own record, not only for her benefit but for the benefit of others with bipolar. A woman who is lauded as an icon in a gold bikini – but is so much more: an actor “for a long list of performances… the writer of …books.. prolific script consultant…mental health advocate..dog lover… eccentric tweeter, mother, storyteller.” (Parkinson, 2016)